Justice League Paramount
by DCmasterRob
Summary: This is DC Paramount. A fully realized alternate reality of the DC universe with unique takes on the iconic characters. I hope you enjoy and please leave me feedback so I can further develop my writing skills.
1. Arc 1: So I Guess We're a Team

Justice League Paramount

Arc 1: So I Guess We're a Team

The story opens on a man presenting to a group of other men in a dark room. The man presenting starts by saying, "Legends. Gods. Supers. These people have many names but it doesn't make them any of what they are called. These 'superheroes' are tragedies waiting to happen unless they can be controlled...and that is exactly what I am proposing."

"And what exactly is your plan again Mr. Luthor?"

"Good question Mr. Secretary. My plan is to gather all of the super powered beings operating on US soil into a team that is government regulated as to prevent national incidents. "L

"Don't we already have that in the form of the Superman?"

"Yes and Superman was a blessing on the standpoint that we were able to raise him to be our weapon but what about the others."L

"What others all I know about is the Batman."

"Yes, the Batman, Bruce Wayne, publicly came out as so in 2005 under the tutelage of his older brother Thomas Wayne who seems to be the creator of Batman but the brains behind the scene as well. Since the announcement of Bruce's crime fighting ways, Waynetech has seen a significant rise in stock for it is the financier of the Batman and Batman works out of Waynetech headquarters in Gotham. Though the Wayne's have publicly stated that their mission spawns out of their untimely death at the hands of criminals in the streets of Gotham, Thomas, who was more injured than Bruce in the attack, seems to have interest in something more and we should recruit Bruce before Thomas figures out what that is. "L

"Ok. Then who's next."

"I'm glad you asked. Next is the Green Lantern of Coast City. He is one of my biggest cases on why we need this team because this guy showed up only about 6 months ago and has the ability to create any construct he can think, made of what is suspected to be pure energy. The energy is expelled out of a ring upon his finger and is alien in origin. His inclusion into the team would allow for possible testing on the device as well as possible outreach to alien species outside the little amount information gathered from the wreckage of the Kryptonians crash."

"Who els..."

"Next is the Flash. A hotshot named Barrel Allen who was a former employee of Lexcorp" "Lexcorp? Your company Mr. Luthor?"

"Yes Mr. President, my company." (Grits teeth)

"As I was saying. Mr. Allen was a former Lexcorp employee who was hit with discharged energy on the initial test of the particle accelerator that now powers Central City. Speaking of Central City, the Flash/Mr. Allen calls this place his home and uses the powers of super speed given to him via the energy expelled from the accelerator."

"You keep saying former employee. What led to his termination?"

"Following the gaining of his powers, Mr. Allen became erratic and unsteady in his mental capacity often speaking to things that weren't there and due to the liability he could be for Lexcorp he was let go. The Flash appeared within about a month of his termination and due to the erratic nature of his mental state, the Flash leaves a sizable amount of collateral damage in his heroics. His inclusion to the team would give the possibility of not only bringing liability to his actions but also the possible rehabilitation of his mental state."

"That seems like a logical approach. Who's next?"

"Our final hero is a man who some believe to be crazy and others a god but either way is a danger. He goes by the name Aquaman and he believes he is the rightful king of Atlantis. We don't know much about him aside from the fact that he has a telekinetic link with aquatic animals, the ability to breathe in water, move at top speeds in water and above all has superhuman strength. He operates along the western sea border and is a glorified marine life activist but with the right direction can do some real good."

"Ok Mr. Luthor, all these subjects you've presented have the power but none seem to be under our direct control or even command so the question we are asking here is where does Superman fit into this?"

"Oh Superman will most definitely be on the team but will not be in charge mainly because if any of you have had the pleasure or as I would say displeasure of meeting our Boy in Blue you would know that he isn't really a people person. No, no he won't be in charge but he will be on the team and hopefully he can gain some social skills along the way. The leader, as I would recommend, will be Oliver Queen, codename Green Arrow."

"The international playboy? Didn't he get lost at sea a couple years ago and die?"

"Lost at sea? Yes. Dead? No. Mr. Queen was shipwrecked in the middle of the sea and landed at a never before discovered island known as Themiscara. There Mr. Queen was captured then trained by the islands natives. The unique thing about this island is that it was only inhabited by women with no men to be seen."

(The men chuckle) "I'm sorry Mr. Luthor but your man is crazy."

"Oh I thought so to at first. But none of you asked how he returned. Mr. Queen befriended one of the natives known as Diana and with her help was trained in the rigorous battle techniques of the Olympians and he became particularly well versed with a bow. Eventually through some unknown circumstance, Mr. Queen was forced to leave the island and Diana helped him do so with a craft of superior engineering that had stealth capabilities far beyond our own. Once back on US soil, Mr. Queen found that his family's company was now owned by me and once he told me his story I was glad to include them onto the team."

"Them?"

"Why Diana of course. The woman who accompanied Mr. Queen upon his escape. Her code name is Wonder Woman and she is versed in a variety of fighting styles as well as access to an arsenal of ancient weapons of her culture and superhuman strength. She is also loyal to Mr. Queen to a tee and will do anything for him which makes her easy to control because Mr. Queen is loyal to me and I am loyal to my country of course."

"That's all fine and good Mr. Luthor but what if Mr. Queen decides not to be loyal to you?"

"Well you didn't let me finish Mr. Secretary. Our last member of the team will be Red Tornado, a synthetic android with the capability of creating Mach 2 speed winds that will truly serve as our eyes and ears. So do I have your approval Sirs?"

"Yes you do Mr. Luthor but one last question. What will you call this team of yours?"

"The working name is the Justice League. Do you approve?"

"Yes we do. Congratulations Mr. Luthor, you just created the most powerful team ever to exist."

"I know." (End of issue)

From that meeting we move to Luthor walking stridently into his office where we see Oliver standing at the ready. Luthor informs him that the meeting was more than successful and it's time for the recruitment process.

A montage follows where it is seen where Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman are met with by Green Arrow. The Flash jumps aboard immediately while Green Lantern is skeptical at first but after some deep and seneschal conversation he comes aboard. Aquaman on the other hand wants no part but Green lantern volunteers to convince him and after a heartfelt talk between the two about the importance of life beyond just sea life makes Aquaman see the world in a better light and he reluctantly agrees to be a part of the team.

Luthor himself recruits Batman but not by actually asking Bruce but rather by asking Thomas. Luthor phrases it as a good publicity stunt to increase Batman's marketability and with a little thought on the idea Thomas agrees to it and doesn't tell Bruce till almost the day of the first meeting. Luthor recruits Superman easily for he is the one in charge of the K-1 program so he just has a sit down with General Lane and they discuss how it will honestly be good for Superman to be on a team so they agreed to go forward with it. Superman is then informed of his reassignment to the team from Metropolis and he reluctantly agrees for he doesn't want to leave his friends at the Daily Planet he met through General Lanes daughter Lois who was a combat journalist.

The team then convenes for their first meeting in the Hall of Justice stationed in Washington DC. Everyone arrives punctually aside from Batman who arrives out of costume as Bruce Wayne as well as slightly drunk over the fact he didn't know he would be attending the meeting till his brother informed him earlier that morning. Luthor introduces the core concept of how the team will work as well as what they are exactly allowed to do when on missions. Everyone complies until Green Arrow is introduced as the leader of the team. The complaints come mainly from Superman for he believes in his service for the US he has gained the proper experience and skills to lead in contrary to some rich boy with a grudge. Batman in a drunken state says that he thought they were talking about Green Arrow and then kind of dozes off.

Luthor calms the tensions then leaves the team to get to know each other as well as get acquainted to how each other fights. Green Arrow believes this will be addressed best with the running of training simulations within the hall while the rest of the heroes believe that on hands work will be more effective. Superman decides to take initiative against Oliver and makes a move for the door gesturing for his fellow heroes to join him. Before he can leave he finds Oliver at the door and he tells the tiny man to move out of his way and Oliver replies with a request for Superman to "make him". Superman then goes to grab Oliver by the neck but Oliver then slashes at Superman's eyes with his bow and activates a solar suppression arrow Luthor created and places it on Superman's chest. This brings Superman to the floor for his powers are momentarily deactivated. Oliver knees Superman in the face and the rest of the heroes aside from Batman jump into action. Oliver launches an arrow at Flash who catches it easily but the arrow then electrifies and bring Flash to the floor in convulsions. Oliver then launches a cluster arrow that breaks apart into eight arrows to break Green Lanterns concentration and during that confusion launches an additional trick stun arrow which simply bounced off the ceiling directly into Green Lanterns forehead and thus doing as the arrows name implies. Aquaman then assesses the situation and seems to realize that any further attempt to take down Oliver would be futile but alas that realization never comes and Aquaman throws his trident at Oliver who merely through the use of a triple arrow shot is able to stop the attack midway and then throws aside his bow gesturing for Arthur to attack him in hand to hand. Arthur charges and Oliver simple grabs him and throws Arthur over his shoulder into a wall where quickly recovers and rushes Oliver from behind. Oliver then quickly spins and in a singular solid punch to Arthurs jaw, knocks him out cold.

Oliver then walks over to Batman who seems to be fighting the urge to join in the fight where he whispers in Batman's ear, "Sit down before I make you or maybe I can call your brother."

Bruce gives him a look of resentment and fear as he descends back into seat and produces a flask from within his suit and begins to nurse it casually. Oliver then leaves announcing that virtual training sessions will begin the following day and he expects everyone to be in attendance. (End of issue)

The scene moves to following day in the midst of training where it is an absolute mess. The only ones successfully following orders are that of Wonder Woman and Red Tornado. Flash is trying his best but keeps have getting distracted by having conversations with no one. Superman is just destroying everything in sight and relying too much on his powers and not strategy. Green Lantern and Aquaman are more worried about watching each other's backs than watching the rest of the teams and of course Batman is again inebriated due to over drinking earlier that morning. Oliver eventually has enough with the lackluster performance of the team and says that its time they each broken down their strengths as to understand what works and what doesn't.

Oliver addresses how Flash's speed is incredible but without direction he can get lost and ultimately bring himself out of the battle unintentionally. He points out how Green Lantern has spectacular skill in defensive maneuvers and shielding but the truth is that he needs to modify his technique to work with a group rather than a singular partner. He evaluates how Superman's abilities makes him the powerhouse on the team but in the case of a live scenario if he just barrels through everything the team may become vulnerable outside of Superman's cover or worse civilian life can be put at risk. Aquaman is addressed as being a skilled fighter but by keeping to close to Green Lantern limits his availability to what he is so good at which is fighting not defending.

That's when Oliver comes to Batman where he honestly says that unless Batman can get his act together and stop being a drunkard of a superhero then he has no place on the team. Batman looks Oliver directly in the eye as his body wobbles a little bit and he says that Oliver is absolutely right but alas he isn't going to stop for he will gladly resign as a member. Oliver looks at Batman suspiciously as he makes for the door for his walk suddenly becomes more strident and powerful and in that moment he picks up the mug in front on the table an pelts it at Batman's head. Batman then without a second's hesitation and grabs the mug without even turning around. Oliver then says that it was all an act to have an excuse to leave but Batman says that it wasn't for he is absolutely drunk at this given moment but he has been fighting crime while drunk for about five years now and with the amount of training he has gone through his drunken state is a better fighter than most every man on the planet. Batman then leaves.

Oliver then makes toward the door with hopes to stop him but then, of all people, Superman stops him and says that he will go talk to Batman. We then see Batman drunkenly get into the Batmobile which is then, to Batman's surprise, lifted up into the air and flown off into the distance.

The next scene is that of Superman and Batman standing in the artic where Batman is shivering and asking why Superman brought him here. Superman then shares how this is the one place that he truly sees the beauty of Earth and understands why it needs to be protected. Superman then asks Batman why he thinks Superman works for the US government. Batman replies that it is because they government found him and he is loyal to them for their raising him. Superman shoots down this explanation and clearly explains that he figured out around the age of 16 that he wanted to protect the Earth due to his friendship with Lois Lane but alas he doesn't really understand humanity nor how he can properly help humanity, not yet at least. That is why Superman works for the US government for they give him direction and that's why he is slowly starting to believe in the Justice League for Superman believes that the team, even if under Green Arrow's leadership, will one day give him new purpose.

In this explanation Superman goes from floating above the ground as he is always seen doing in to having his feet legitimately placed upon the ice beneath him. Batman then says that his speech was nice but in all actuality Bruce doesn't really want to be hero, not anymore and honestly he never did. Bruce then explains how the Batman was always Thomas' dream that he forced Bruce to live out on his behalf. Bruce asks Superman if he understands how hard it is to have your brother go from your protector and role model to nothing more than your commander and often abuser.

Superman is puzzled by Batman's statement and asks' "Abuser?'.

Batman then sighs and reveals that Thomas couldn't be Batman and forced Bruce to be and pushed him beyond his limits starting at the age of 10. When Bruce would stumble, well let's just say though Thomas couldn't fight crime he sure as hell could beat the shit out of Bruce. Superman asks why Bruce would never fight back and Bruce replied that for all the awful things Thomas would do, Bruce would tell himself that all Thomas wanted was to do good and did it because he loved Bruce. Batman begins to tear up at this and then says that his drinking started right around the time he finally realized that Thomas saw Bruce as no more than a weapon. The only comfort Bruce has in life now is that of his butler Alfred and the bottle.

Superman tells Batman that this isn't true for if Batman returns to the league and tries to be more than just his brother's weapon, then he will gain a new family that he can call his own and hopefully gain the direction that Superman hopes to gain as well. Batman looks up to Superman and agrees to come back and tells Superman that for a guy who doesn't understand humanity, he seems to make a pretty good friend. (End of issue)

The next day we see the whole team working at the training sessions where each tries to do the best they can to match Oliver's strategy of skill division. Everyone seems to be settling into their roles aside from Green Lantern and Aquaman who again have the issue of covering each other to closely compared to the others on the team.

Oliver finally confronts them about it, asking for the reasoning for this and that's when Aquaman looks Oliver dead in the eyes and says, "Because he is my boyfriend you dumbass."

Oliver's jaw drops at this realization and Batman comes up laughing and with a pat on Oliver's back announces that he knew that the second he saw them. Oliver then composes himself and addresses the reality that he and Wonder Woman are involved but they understand the importance of protecting the team as well as each other. Green Lantern thinks about it and says he understands and after some intense back and forth facial expressions between him and Arthur, Arthur agrees as well.

The team then proceeds on with training and the dynamic of the team becomes stronger and stronger. There is a montage that shows this progress and at the end of this montage, the team is introduced to Jimmy Olsen by Superman himself for Jimmy is one of Superman's friends from Metropolis and is a huge fan of the superheroes, so Superman thought it would be nice to introduce him to the team. Jimmy has a full fanboy freak-out taking picture after picture. Lois Lane then enters and addresses the fact that Jimmy needs to act professional for Superman introducing Jimmy to the League isn't the only reason for the visit. In turns out that Lois has upgraded to full on journalism at the Daily Planet and her first big piece is on the introduction of the Justice League and Jimmy is photographing the interview for her. Here we see a clash between Superman and Green Arrow over answering the questions asked for Green Arrow is the leader and thus more informed/qualified to answer though Superman wants to answer for the reasoning that both Lois and Jimmy are his friends.

The interview eventually ends and Lois goes on a walk with Superman while Jimmy continues to gawk over the team. On their walk Superman talks to Lois about how he is liking the team though he misses her and Jimmy as well as everyone else at the Daily Planet. Lois says that she misses him to and says that she has been talking to her dad and it seems that Superman is more or less been assigned to the Justice League directly which creates some nice loopholes like that he is not under any specific instruction to be in DC at all times so Superman can begin to visit if he so likes. Superman is delighted by this news and in childlike glee hugs Lois and twirls her up into the air. He then realizes what he had done and he apologizes. She says its fine and blushes and so does he. She then says that she has to go for she has a flight to catch to back to Metropolis in order to finish the article with an interview with Lex Luthor, the creator of the League.

Lois then hugs Superman and says goodbye and Superman does similarly with Jimmy. Superman watches optimistically as they leave points out that Superman really cares about them and Superman says that he really does. (End of issue)

The next we see is Lois and Jimmy in Lex's office as he monologues about the ideas of power and strength in numbers and other mumbo jumbo that he knows will show him off as a kind and brilliant man who created the most powerful team in the world. Lois scribbles away and then asks of Luthor's opinions of each member and he is polite and positive about each member and upon finishing his statements, Lois points out that he omitted Superman from his list. Luthor grits his team at this realization and tries to quickly play it off as that he didn't want to come across as biased due to his years of work with Superman and then quickly rambles off the basic praise of Superman that can be found in a children's book but Lois accepts it with only little notice at the odd sense of displeasure in Luthor's tone.

Luthor then takes the two on a tour of the Lexcorp tower and along the way Jimmy gets left behind when taking a photograph, for Lex is only interested in Lois for she is the one who determines how he is represented in the article. Jimmy then hears a large grumble that seems to be coming from the floor below and he, being the curious boy he is, decides to investigate. That's where he sees a variety of guards trying to contain a large purple creature but every time they attacked it, it would increase in size. Jimmy begins to photograph what he is witnessing and that's when the creature officially breaks out of its restraints and barrels toward the wall. It then smashes through said wall and heads toward downtown Metropolis.

The scene then cuts to the Justice League getting word of the creature and deploying immediately.

The team is then seen as it enters Metropolis square where they are confronted with a tank of a creature that is now proclaiming himself to be Parasite and that he will consume all. The team springs into action they attack with full force and it's not till Parasite gets a good hold onto Superman and drains him of his power while simultaneously growing in size that they understand Parasites power set. Green Arrow then sends the team on the defensive with the hope of containing Parasite rather than beating him directly.

Green Lantern creates a perimeter while the rest of the team tries to distract the creature. Batman then tries to advise Green Arrow on how to defeat Parasite but Oliver ignores him completely for he still doesn't really take him seriously. Green Arrow tries a faulty offensive maneuver which completely backfires and that's when he acknowledges his error and apologizes to Batman who then shares his plan. Batman then informs how they can shutdown Parasite via suffocation if Red Tornado and Flash work together to create a vacuum while Green Lantern keeps it contained. Green Arrow relays these commands and the team does just that and it works perfectly, resulting in Parasite not only passing out but also reversing back to his purple, more humanoid form.

The team celebrates their victory back at the Hall of Justice and Oliver makes a toast and then says that "So I guess we're a team", while Parasite is then apprehended by the US government and is shipped back to none other than Lexcorp for safe keeping though no one know that the creature originated from there. No one aside from Jimmy Olsen.

Jimmy had photographed the entire Justice League battle as well as Parasite inside Lexcorp and after that long day he decided to go home and rest. Jimmy, once home, starts to review his photographs and composes a file of all the Justice League shots and sends them to Perry White and Lois. From there he moves to the Lexcorp photos where he compiles all the shots, including the incriminating ones, and types -ensure these get to the right place- and addresses the email to Lois Lane. Then, to Jimmy's surprise, the email rewrites itself and every incriminating photo is deleted.

That's when Lex Luthor says, "Nifty trick right? It's a program I created. I call it Braniac."

Jimmy then says that he won't get away with this but Luthor cuts him off saying that he not only already has but will continue to do such things and never be caught. Jimmy then makes a move for his phone but Luthor pulls a gun before he can even touch it and pulls the trigger three times. Jimmy then falls to the ground and bleeds out as he watches the rewritten email send and a tear rolls down his face. (End of arc)


	2. Arc 2: Stresses

Justice League Paramount

Arc 2: Stresses

The story opens with a dualistic image or a parade and a funeral. Metropolis is shown to be celebrating the Justice League while the Daily Planet is mourning the loss of Jimmy Olsen. The drastic difference between the two is clearly seen in the color palates but more importantly by that of Superman. First of all Superman is putting on his best to project an outward appearance of gratitude and pleasantry in the parade but it is seen how furious and unstable the loss of Jimmy has made him through how his eyes fill with red energy as to project his laser vision over the simple bouquet of flowers striking him in the back of the head.

The scene then moves to the funeral where Superman is seen for the first time out of costume in a suit that was lent to him by Batman while he alone carries Jimmy's coffin. He is seen to be delicate and gentle here as he softly lays the coffin into the grave and then walks away contrary to floating as to show the oh to human feeling of loss he is experiencing. We then see Superman legitimately sob as he falls into Lois' arms.

The scene then moves to that of a now typical Justice League meeting where Green Arrow addresses the recent increase of alien activity in the Midwestern region of the United States. Oliver says that this is a more common event than the team would expect and there are a large amount of alien communities within the United States so there is no issue there. What the problem is, is that there has been an uncharacteristic amount of violent outbursts in the Kansas area. Oliver believes that the team should investigate this and hopefully get to the bottom of it before any more attacks happen.

The team then deploys into individual groups of Green Arrow and Wonder Woman, Red Tornado and Flash, Aquaman and Green Lantern, and lastly, Superman and Batman. Each team does simple recon work while also questioning the surrounding natives of both human and alien descent.

During this time is where we see the individual conversations between characters. Oliver discusses with Diana on how the severity of this mission is greater than he believes the team realizes and Diana calls him out on the fact that he made dinner reservations for date night on the ride over. Oliver concedes there but says that if he didn't reserve a table now there wouldn't be one to reserve at all but that doesn't mean the mission any less dangerous. She gives him a "are you kidding me" kind of smirk and the scene then shifts to Flash and Red Tornado.

This is another humorous exchange where Flash is constantly asking Red Tornado about robotic stereotypes to find if they are either true or offend him. The funny part about the exchange is that Red Tornado doesn't seemed to be phased by any of the questions and thus answers bluntly until Flash start to ask questions way to quickly (not even waiting for then answers) and Red Tornado cuts Flash off and calls him out on the flawed nature of asking a question without being interested in the answer. This hits Flash surprisingly hard and he starts to overdramatically rethink his life until Red says that he is sorry for that observation for he often forgets the ideas of human nature and personality. Flash then almost in cartoonlike fashion forgives him and moves on without a hitch.

The next duo we see is Green lantern and Aquaman as they just awkwardly hold each other's hands as they move from place to place just doing their jobs.

The last group we see is Superman and Batman who are working in complete silence.

That is until Batman says "You know I understand your pain."

Superman is thrown off-guard by this but before he can shoot back a childlike defense Batman just continues on with his words. Batman talks about the fact that everyone forgets that his parents were indeed murdered in front of him just because of all the glitz and glamor of his life. He talks about how it kills him inside that he couldn't have done more to save them and it hurts him even more now that, since he knows for a fact that the crime wouldn't have been possible if he could do back then, what he could do now. He also addresses the fact that for every time he has saved a little girl from a burning building or stopped the Joker, someone, somewhere dies in a way that he could have prevented.

Superman starts to tear up again as he shares about how he can move mountains but couldn't stop some monster from killing his best friend, worse he didn't even have the thought to at least check up on Jimmy after the fight. Superman says that it all be easier if he had never known Jimmy and that's where Batman stops him. Batman says that Superman wants the human experience, well that means you care for people and more often than not you get hurt. Sometimes it's small, like an argument or a fight but sometimes you lose people. How you deal with it shows who you are inside. Batman then addresses how Jimmy seemed to love the idea of superheroes, admiring Superman the most, and Superman should honor that by mourning him but also being the best hero he can be. Superman agrees with this idea and the two return to their task with gusto.

Each group is then seen getting clues all pointing to the same warehouse where a supposedly dangerous character is staying whose abilities match the descriptions of the attacks. The team then converges on the warehouse and bust in to find a man simply sitting at a table. His eyes then glow red and all the lights go out. There is a series or grunts and smashes and the lights reactivate to reveal Martian Manhunter standing above the defeated Justice League. (End of issue)

The next scene is that of Green Arrow awaking to find that his is unbound in a completely white room. As he looks around to see the rest of the league around him and Martian Manhunter standing before him.

The creature explains that he is Jon Jonzz and is the last remaining martian who has taken refuge in the little town where the Justice League has been investigating. He explains further that he works with the law in this town through the use of his shapeshifting and psychic abilities (which he is using to communicate to the league thus the white room) as well as many more. Through that work he has found that there is some form of creature that is terrorizing the surrounding citizens both alien and human alike in search of something. Jon found in his research that the being was taking stronghold in the warehouse but once he arrived it was gone and that was when the League showed up and Jon had no other choice than to subdue them.

Oliver believes what Jon is saying and explains that they have come to stop the same being who is causing Jon's community harm. Jon is happy by this news and thus releases the League from his telepathic hold. Jon and Oliver discuss the next steps of the investigation and that's when the Flash sees something and starts to tap on Oliver's arm to get his attention. Oliver ignores him at first but Barry finally just grabs Oliver's head and turns it to show him the hulking robot which stands before the League.

The team jumps into action with Manhunter by their side. At first the robot just takes every hit that comes to him as if he doesn't know how to defend himself but that doesn't matter for the League isn't making a single dent.

The robot then utters in a mechanical voice, "Targets analyzed, initiating AMAZO protocol."

The robot, now being referred to as AMAZO, jumps into action by punching Superman into the wall while uttering, "Wonder Woman." He then gets struck by an arrow and turns to face Oliver where he says "Red Tornado" and emits tornados from his hands sweeping Oliver into the wall. AMAZO then sends his tornados into Flash who attempts to run in the wind but was caught to off guard. Red Tornado tries to counteract the tornados with his own but that's when AMAZO says "Green Lantern" and emits a green beam that takes the form of a fist, which punches Red Tornado through a wall. Wonder Woman and Aquaman then rush the machine to only be beaten back with the utterance of "Superman". Batman and Green Arrow try to hit it with all forms of projectiles but it says "Martian Manhunter" and goes intangible as to let the ammo hit the wall behind it.

Green arrow is at a loss on what to do for the robot seem to be truly indestructible as well as has the perfect counter to every attack. That's when he turns to Batman for advice thinking back to his great tactical choice on their first mission. Batman thinks as quickly as he can as he dodges AMAZO newly produced heat vision. That's when he remembers that when AMAZO went intangible, he muttered Martian Manhunters name.

He then runs over to Jon where tells him to read his mind as to ensure that AMAZO wouldn't hear. Martain Manhunter agrees and goes in for a punch to which AMAZO utters "Superman" but Manhunter expected this and thus goes intangible to only restructure his hand once it is firmly in AMAZOs head. AMAZO then proceeds to twitch and malfunction until his head subsequently explodes from the disruption in his circuitry. The team cheers in excitement at the enemies defeat.

The next scene is that of the team cleaning up and the US government packing away AMAZOs remains while Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter discuss how AMAZO must have been the creature causing the attacks. Jon agrees with this but still holds a face of suspicion as if he isn't entirely sure. The team then gathers themselves, thank Jon for his help, and head back to the Hall of Justice. (End of Issue).

The team is then seen in the hall trying to relax from the crazy events of the day for it exhausted them in more ways than one. Most team members make for their quarters in the hall aside from Batman and Flash who begin to make their way to the exit when the lights in the hall go completely dark. Batman is disoriented by this and attempts to find Flash but he seems to be completely gone. Batman then tries to feel his way around through the darkness and finds that the ground feels like rock rather than tiled floor.

That's when light floods back into the room but it isn't a room anymore but rather a cave. The Batcave to be exact. Bruce is in awe of this transition but tries to play it off as a hallucination from the exhausting efforts of the day. That's when he sees Thomas standing before him which he knows can't be a hallucination. Thomas turns to him looking 15 years younger and says that he is late for training and Bruce says that he doesn't have training with Thomas anymore. Thomas' face grows in displeasure and he starts toward Bruce. In this stride Bruce suddenly changes from being in full Batsuit to being in normal clothes and aged to that of about 10 years old. Thomas then says that he is tired of Bruce's constant excuses for what they are doing goes beyond what Bruce wants. Thomas then grabs Bruce and tells him that he needs to remember the fear he felt when their parents died to understand why what they are doing is so important. Thomas then asks if Bruce is still afraid of bats and Bruce begins to scream with pleas for his brother to stop but Thomas does no such thing. Thomas then carries Bruce over a pit and tells him that he can't come out till he understands and tosses Bruce in without a moment of hesitation. As Bruce hits the floor of the cavern he hears the casual movements of bats all around him. As Bruce gets up he thinks he is ok and that's when Thomas throws a sound maker from above and the bats begin to swarm Bruce as he screams.

The panel then moves to the Flash who is sitting in an all-white room contrary to the darkness Batman saw. He walks around and then upgrades to that of running as he attempts to survey the never ending room. That's when he finally sees someone. That person is none other than the future version of himself wrapped in a strait jacket. The future Flash starts to verbally attack Barry over the fact that he will never be sane and never be accepted by society. This horrifies Barry and he begins to run away from such an idea and that's when the future version of himself loses the strait jacket and chase him. All the while the chase goes on Barry is being verbally assaulted with the ideas of how he has failed as a hero and is too far broken to do any more good all the while the future Flash is becoming more and more warped into a black creature made of pure speed force energy.

From there we move to Green Arrow who wakes up to the commotion of Batman and the Flash screaming and runs to them only to find a huge orange creature with three eyes standing above them. He then draws an arrow but as he does his vision begins to blur and he falls to the ground. He then wakes up on an island and he finds himself in his clothes from his shipwreck. He then hears the familiar battle cry of the Amazons as they charge toward him. He tries to greet them but they attack him, beating him brutally. They then drag him before their leader and he sees that it is Diana and he believes that his problems have ended as she has him unbound. She then drops a sword at his feet and tells him to arm himself. He seems confused and that's when she swings her sword at him in a way that would have surely killed him. He then grabs the sword and begins to defend himself as he tries to talk to Diana but she isn't listening. She truly is trying to kill him and he doesn't know what to do.

Speaking of Diana, we now see the creature standing above her sleeping body as he opens his third eye to shine upon her. She then opens her eyes with a face of shock and finds herself in her ship with Oliver as they are taking off on the day of their escape from Themiscara. The event seems to be playing out as it originally had. That is, until the Amazon soldiers fire their arrows perfectly into the thruster of the craft causing it to crash. The army then breaks into the ship and forcefully take Oliver and Diana. Diana is then put on her knees before her mother as she is forced to watch as Hippolita unsheathes her sword and lays it upon Oliver's neck. Her mother turns to the women holding Diana and tells them to ensure she watches. Her mother then raises the sword and …

The panel cuts away to show the creature moving about the halls moving past Red Tornados charging bay. The creature looks over Red but seems to lack interest and moves on. Red's eyes begin to glow as he reactivates. The creature then moves into the room of both Aquaman and Green Lantern.

Arthur awakes to its overly loud entrance but before he can get to his trident is similarly dropped to the floor where it is quickly shown that he is reliving the moment of his mother's death and Orm's betrayal.

Green Lantern awakes next but to the surprise of the creature is not instantly set back into an unconscious state.

That's when the creature finally speaks, saying, "No creature can dare stand the power of Despero, the master of all minds!"

Lantern then activates his ring into that of a fist and thinks to himself that this isn't going to be good. (End of issue)

The next we see is that of Green Lantern being tossed through a wall. Despero is making easy work of Kyle for his physical strength seems to be just as strong as his psychic powers. Kyle is freaking out but his biggest question is why he isn't unconscious and his ring answers to him that after evaluating the format in which Martian Manhunter breached Kyle's mind earlier that day, it was able to set up a telepathic barrier to fend off any future attack of that kind. Kyle then makes an attempt slow Despero down by creating a series of barriers that the creature destroys with ease. Kyle then asks the ring if it knows anything about Despero and it miraculously knows a vast amount of information on the beast. It turns out that Despero is a king of some far off world who enslaved his people through the use of mind control and now chooses to hunt certain species throughout the galaxy as some sick form of sport.

It is at the end of this explanation that Despero seems to corner Kyle and, having heard his rings analysis, tells Kyle that he indeed was on the hunt for the last martian but alas, to do that he must defeat the do this. He then punches Kyle to the floor. Kyle makes a shield for himself as Despero stomps upon his crumbled body. That's when Despero is hit with a gust of red wind which throws him off of Kyle.

Kyle turns to see both Red Tornado and Superman standing before him. Red explains that he had to get Superman or he would have been here sooner.

Kyle then asks Superman how did he break through Despero's mind control and Superman says, "Mind control?"

Kyle then in a quick panic tries to make a construction around Superman but it's already too late as Superman falls to the floor in agony. Despero then heads toward Lantern again but Red Tornado does his best to push him back but it's not enough. Despero just uses his talon like hands to claw his way to Red Tornado where he then grabs his arms and tears them from his body. Green Lantern then grabs Red and darts out of the room.

We then see a horror like montage of Despero stalking the halls in search of Green Lantern. This is made evermore frightening by the reality that Green Lanterns ring has only ten percent charge left and he will soon be at Despero's mercy. We then see that Despero has cornered Green Lantern in the mess hall as Kyles ring approaches zero battery. Kyle makes one last barrier and says a little barrier and as Despero stands before it. He raises his arms, readying the final blow.

We then see an explosion of green energy and the panel cuts back to show Martian Manhunter standing before Kyle, ready to fight. (End of issue) We then see Martian Manhunter turn to Kyle explaining that he is sorry that he is late but it wasn't till he did some additional research with the victims of the violence that he figured out that Despero was the culprit, not AMAZO. Manhunter then places his hand on Kyle's head informing him that he has put a mental block to protect him from Despero without his ring.

Kyle then evacuates the building via the hole just created by Manhunter as Manhunter moves his attention to Despero. Manhunter gives Despero one chance to surrender before Jon makes him. Despero laughs at the idea that his prey would dare threaten him and rushes forward. Martian Manhunter smirks and warps his mist to be the actual size of Despero punching through a series of walls. From the Manhunter proceeds to beat Despero mercilessly with utter ease. With every strike Despero attempts, Manhunter not only blocks it but also counters in the most ideal way to weaken him. Manhunter makes mention that he should have made his attack earlier than today for thanks to the battle with AMAZO, he was better prepared for their battle. This enrages Despero who in that fury is able to get a cheap shot in on Manhunter which breaks his concentration just enough for Despero to go on the psychic offensive. Despero dives into Manhunter's mind with the reopening of his third eye and once in the mindscape informs Manhunter that if he can't best him in physical combat then he will do so here. Despero and Manhunter then volley a series of psychic blasts towards one another and again manhunter seems to have the advantage that is, until Despero has finally had enough and decides to have Manhunter defeat himself.

Manhunter is then transported to a red sanded dessert that is clearly Mars and with the snap of his fingers, Despero sets the sand ablaze. Manhunter crumbles at this image as he sees again, the horrors of watching his people die and feeling the burning on his very skill. Despero walks toward Manhunter ready to end him and thus take his prize of the last martian. All seems lost until Manhunter breaks through and says that fear is never as strong as the will to survive. Despero says that this shouldn't be possible but Manhunter laughs at Despero's small understanding of the psychic plane. Manhunter then grows to the size of a giant and squashes Despero like a bug.

The next we see is that of each team member slowly leaving their nightmares. Wonder Woman rushes into Green Arrow's arms legitimately crying as she describes that she saw him die over and over and he says that she never loved him and ultimately killed him in his. Flash just wakes up and in a quick and unsure stir, looks at his team, whispers "never", and dashes out the door to run off his troubles.

Green Lantern returns to comfort Aquaman while Superman walks over to Batman to ask him what he saw. Batman says, "Something that will never happen again."

Batman asks Superman what he saw and we see a shot behind Superman of thousands upon thousands of graves and Superman replies to Batman with, "Likewise."

Green Arrow then goes over and not only thanks Martian Manhunter but invites him to the League as well. Manhunter thanks Oliver for the offer but he declines for the fact that he adores his little town he calls home and would like to remain with them as their protector for the time being. Batman then asks Manhunter why AMAZO would attack the League if in the long run Despero was the culprit of the attacks. Jon had no answer to this other than addressing the possibility of coincidence, which Batman doesn't seem to swallow to well. Manhunter then leaves and again we see the all too familiar image of the US government packing up Despero and the damaged Red Tornado to be shipped off for repair.

The next scene is that of both Despero and Red being dropped off at Lexcorp. Red is sent up to the robotics department while Despero is moved to the lower level where Parasite was previously seen. Despero is then moved into a holding cell next to Parasite and Luthor comes out of the shadows to confront him. Luthor tells Despero that he better have what Luthor wants. Despero says that he doesn't remember what he saw in the Justice Leagues minds for Manhunter erased everything he saw. Luthor says that Despero didn't hold up there end of the bargain and that he gave Despero the martians location as a show of good faith. Despero says that he didn't expect the martian to interfere. Luthor says that it's too bad that Despero didn't get what Luthor wanted…because now he going to take something else from Despero in return. Luthor then turns to his surgical bots and says for them to take the eye and Luhtor leaves as Despero is heard screaming a variety of threat and then just screaming in general.

Luthor is then seen walking into the next room as he watches the body of AMAZO be melted down. As its chest plate melts away, the interior of the body is shown with a large Lexcorp logo in the middle. The final panel is that of the logo being reflect with the fire in Lex's eyes. (End of issue)


End file.
